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(jointly organized with the Department of Fisheries) INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PLAN PROJECT Proceedings of The Round Table Discussion on Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island Working Paper WP038 Dhaka May, 2005 Program Development Office Sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom Executed by ARCADIS Euroconsult, the Netherlands Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Ministry of Water Resources Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO)

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(jointly organized with the Department of Fisheries)

INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

PLAN PROJECT

Proceedings of The Round Table Discussion on Holistic Approach

for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island

Working Paper WP038

Dhaka May, 2005

Program Development Office

Sponsored by the Government of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom Executed by ARCADIS Euroconsult, the Netherlands

Government of the People’s Republic of BangladeshMinistry of Water Resources

Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO)

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Program Development Office for

Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (PDO-ICZMP)

Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Holistic Approach for

Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island

Working Paper WP038

Prepared by Md. Shahjahan Mian

Saimon Center, Road 22, House 4/A, 5th floor Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212

Tel & Fax: 8826614; Tel: 9892787; Email: [email protected] Web: www.iczmpbangladesh.org

Dhaka, May 2005

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• All activities should be formulated on the basis of careful evaluation of carrying capacity of the island;

• Endangered and aesthetic species like sea horse, colorful reef, fishes should be preserved; • Complete restriction and control for human habitation should be executed in the southern side

extending from Golachipa to Konapara and Seradia; • Laboratory should be facilitated with equipment and appliances to perform/ conduct academic

research; • As a signatory of the Convention of Migratory Species; Bangladesh is promised bound to protect

and conserve the marine turtle species and the breeding spots for turtle should be protected on priority basis;

• The dog population of the island should be reduced for protecting predation of turtle eggs and hatchlings;

• An advisory committee will be formed comprising the project management personnel of different projects working in the island to frame an integrated and holistic management paradigm;

• Natural trail in lieu of walkway will be established around the island to enjoy the aesthetic view of the island by the tourist;

• Encourage less water demanding cropping (rabi) like wheat, nut, and vegetables; • Seasonal fish culture with suitable species should be developed without altering the current nature

of wetland ecosystem; • Eco-friendly tourist cottage type accommodation should be facilitated by complete restriction of

multi-storied structures; • To restrict blast water discharge, the movement of merchant ships and vessels should be strictly

controlled for entry within 30m depth zone from the shoreline • Collection of corals and selling of corals, mollusks, bivalves etc. by vendors should be completely

stopped by shifting them to other trades like tour guides; • Generation of electricity by solar and wind mills should be encouraged involving local people; • Coconut based alternative income generating options will be included in the existing projects. • Water & Sanitation must be ensured in the island • Crop intensity be raised • Biological monitoring shall be a continuous process in view of ECA declaration • ICZM should facilitate coordination of activities going-on by different agencies

The roundtable ended with a recommendation for an immediate follow-up meeting.

Follow up meeting

A follow up meeting was held on April 4,2005 at 3.00 pm at PDO-ICZMP with representatives form MoEF, DoF, BPC, ECFC, CWBMP and IUCN- Bangladesh.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................I TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................III 1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................1

2 INAUGURAL SESSION...................................................................................................................3 Address of Welcome .......................................................................................................................4 Keynote presentation .......................................................................................................................5 Address by the Guest of Honour ...................................................................................................10 Address by the Special Guest ........................................................................................................11 Address by the Chief Guest ...........................................................................................................12 Address by the Chairperson...........................................................................................................13

3 TECHNICAL SESSION..................................................................................................................15 Marine biodiversity (of the St. Martin’s Island) and its conservation measures ...........................16 Holistic Assessment of the Faunal Changes: Impact on Fisheries Livelihood

in St. Martins Island .............................................................................................................25 Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities of St. Martin’s Island........................................28 Tourism for Employment Generation in St. Martin’s Island.........................................................30

4 OPEN DISCUSSION......................................................................................................................35

5 CONCLUDING REMARKS............................................................................................................39

6 FOLLOW-UP MEETING ................................................................................................................39

ANNEX-A: PROGRAMME...................................................................................................................41

ANNEX-B: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS..................................................................................................43

ANNEX-C: MINUTES OF THE FOLLOW-UP MEETING ON 4 APRIL, 2005 ......................................45

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A Round Table discussion on ‘Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island’ was held at the BRAC Centre Inn on March 31, 2005. The Round Table discussion was organized by the Department of Fisheries (DOF) and Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO). Program Development Office - Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (PDO-ICZMP) provided facilities for holding the Round Table discussion.

The inaugural session was chaired by Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque, Director General, Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO). Advocate Goutam Chakraborty MP Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources, attended the session as Chief Guest. Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz, ndc, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, was the Special Guest and Mr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Director General, Department of Fisheries (DoF) was the Guest of Honour. During the inaugural session, Dr. M.Rafiqul Islam, Team leader of PDO-ICZMP, presented the Keynote Paper ‘Towards Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island’.

A total of 31 participants representing ministries and agencies (MoWR, DoF, FD, BPC, DoE, WARPO), universities (DU, CU) and NGOs (CNRS, IUCN) and PDO-ICZMP attended the round-table.

Dr. Rafiqul Islam, in his keynote paper, gave an over-view of St. Martin’s Island. He also mentioned problems facing the island regarding critical biodiversity and vulnerable eco-system. He stressed the need for proper use of existing resources of the island with a proposal of possible integration for its management.

Dr. Ainun Nishat, Country Representative, IUCN Bangladesh chaired and moderated the technical session and open discussion.

The following 4 papers were presented during the technical session.

1. Marine Biodiversity and its Conservation Measures - Prof. Dr. A K M Abdul Matin, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

2. Holistic Assessment of the Faunal Changes; Impact on Fisheries Livelihoods in St. Martin's Island - Dr. Giasuddin Khan, DoF, Dhaka.

3. Empowerment of Coastal fishing Communities of St. Martin Island for Responsible fishing and biodiversity conservation - Dr. Dilip Kumar, TL, ECFC Project, DoF.

4. Development of Tourism and Employment Generation - Mr. Ziaul Haque Howlader, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

In addition, Mr. Osman Ghani of the Forest Department gave a detailed description of involvement of the department in St. Martin’s island.

ISSUES DISCUSSED : • St. Martin's Island is a rare island where coral and algae grow side by side and these need to be

conserved and preserved; • Planned aforestation both in the island and upstream with mangrove vegetation should be

developed to reduce the damages caused by natural calamities like tidal surges, tsunami etc. • Activities should be developed on the basis of a Master Plan (to be prepared involving relevant

agencies & islands) avoiding unplanned and uncoordinated development activities; • Aware and motivate local inhabitants about the danger of environmental degradation and facilitate

AlGAs;

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- Do not to allow building of any establishment without prior permission from the authority and stop fish catch around the Island.

While these decisions were made public, protests erupted in St. Martin’s island over the decision to remove illegal establishments. Fear that St. Martin’s island will be depopulated exists among its inhabitants.

The case of St. Martin’s offers a crucial test for establishing a co-ordination mechanism among many institutional actors in a remote small island. It can be turned into a demonstrable model for ICZM.

This Round Table Discussion is a step towards formulation for proper coordination of activities and sustainable management of St. Martin’s Island.

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2 INAUGURAL SESSION

The inaugural session was opened with the recitation from Holy Quran, performed by Mr. Hasan Shariar, Scientific Officer of WARPO. Mr. Mohiudin Ahmad, Co team Leader of PDO-ICZMP conducted this session.

The inaugural session started at 10.00 and was chaired by Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque, Director General, Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO). Advocate Goutan Chakraborty MP Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources, attended the session as Chief Guest. Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz, ndc, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, was the Special Guest and Mr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Director General, Department of Fisheries (DoF) was the guest of honour. During the inaugural session, Dr. M.Rafiqul Islam, Team leader of PDO-ICZMP, presented the Keynote Paper ‘Towards Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island’.

Mr. Md. Ekramullah, Senior Scientific Officer of WARPO made vote of thanks

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1 INTRODUCTION

St Martin's Island is a small island in the northeast of the bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsular tip and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar at the mouth of the river Naf. The local people call it Narikel Jinjira. It is almost flat and is 3.6m above the mean sea level. The island is 7.315 km long and is geographically, divided into three parts.

Fishing is the main livelihoods of >5000 people living in this island. St. Martin’s Island is very much resource rich and one of the most biologically diverse area of this region. It is the only coral bearing island of Bangladesh. Recently trades and tourism are emerging.

The National Conservation Strategy (NCS) in Bangladesh was started in 1986. One of the NCS recommendation was ‘Declaration of Narikel Jinjira (St. Martin’s) island and Jinjira coral reefs as Protected Areas and development of a management plan’. The MoEF, under the NCS Implementation Project –1 prepared ‘Management Plan for Coral Resources of Narikel Jinjira in 1997 (Tomas Tomascik report). In 1999, the Government of Bangladesh declared St. Martins Island as one of the 9 Ecologically Critical Areas.

The MoEF initiated the following 2 projects to enforce ECA and facilitate conservation of biodiversity.

• St. Martin’s Biodiversity Conservation Project (SMBCP) • Coastal Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP)

Further, many NGOs have undertaken turtle conservation program on this island. Meantime, the MoFL, through its ‘Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Community (ECFC) Project’ initiated activities for the large fisher community in the St. Martin’s island.

In order to conserve rich fish biodiversity around St. martin’s island, the DoF has started promotion of a proposal for fish sanctuary. In order to meet energy demand of this remote island, LGED has also developed a green energy model using wind, solar and coconut biomass.

Bangladesh Tourism Corporation promotes St. Martin’s island as a key tourism destination. Domestic tourism has increased manifold in recent years. Unplanned hotel infrastructures are being constructed by private sectors. Introduction of ‘safer’ ferries has attracted further development of tourism. Many overseas entrepreneurs, including from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia have offered to develop St. Martin’s as an exclusive tourist place.

St. Martin’s has also strategic importance due to proximity to Myanmar.

St. Martin’s is at the cross road of development despite being declared as an ECA.

Being requested by the Department of Fisheries vide letter No. 503 dated 28-12-2003 to facilitate a dialogue among relevant projects and agencies, the MoWR concurred to such facilitation and resulted into this roundtable discussion.

While arrangements and scheduling for this roundtable discussions were going on, a high level Ministerial meeting was held on January 16, 2005. The meeting decided to:

- Formulate a master plan for development and protection of bio-diversity of St Martin's Island. LGED has been entrusted to prepare this master plan.

- Build several establishments for the tourism development at St Martin''s Island.

- All illegal establishments, including the dry fish market, as well as slums, will be removed from the Island.

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Address of Welcome Mr. Hasan Parvez, Principal Scientific Officer, WARPO

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Respected Chairman, Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque, Director General, WARPO,

Honourable chief guest Advocate Goutam Chakraborty, MP, State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,

Special guest Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz, ndc, secretary, Ministry of Water Resources,

Guest of Honour Mr. Md. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Director General, Department of Fisheries

Distinguished Guests, Experts, Participants

Ladies and Gentleman

Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to you all.

It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be present here this morning to welcome you all in the round table discussion on Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of the St. Martin's Island.

St. Martin’s Island is located about 9 km south of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf and has been formed though a slow process of deposit of numerous species of corals, stones etc. over many years. This is why this island is known as ‘coral island’.

The island is very much resourceful in terms of its biodiversity. Coral, numerous species of fisheries, turtles, shells, wild animals and trees are the main elements of this bio-diversity. These ecosystems are not only bio-diversity hotspots but also provide ecological balance.

Bangladesh has several ecosystems but coral ecosystem of St. Martin’s island has a special conservation value as well as economic importance. This ecosystem attracts tourists from home and abroad. Everyday about 400 tourists visit the island. Other than fisheries, economic activity of this island is based mainly on tourism.

Due to population pressure in recent years, people are found to be engaged in different unwanted activities like collecting valuable corals, killing the rare species of mammals, marine turtles and other aquatic resources by collecting their eggs, skins and sometimes destroying their natural habitats.

This continuous environmental degradation already resulted the process of declining marine reserve and the island has become highly critical. Realizing this situation, the government has declared the island as Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) in the year 1999.

To protect biodiversity and maintain marine ecosystem in and around St. Martin’s Island, this is the time to take necessary measures to conserve the resources of this island.

Today we are proud to have such a good gathering of experts and professionals like you to discuss on such an important issue of national interest and hope to come up with useful suggestions and recommendations for sustainable management of St. Martin’s island. We hope your active participation and valuable contribution would make this discussion a meaningful and successful one.

I thank you all for taking trouble to be present here in this auspicious gathering this morning and wish the successful completion of today's discussion.

Allah Hafez.

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Keynote presentation Towards Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martin’s Island

Dr. M Rafiqul Islam, Team Leader, PDO-ICZMP Dr. M Rafiqul Islam said, in his key note presentation, that 19 districts and EEZ comprises the coastal zone of Bangladesh. If we look into the St Martins Island we can see a tiny island, which is only 7.3 km long, divided into three parts and in between the northern and southern part there is a small tiny belt and tiny island Cheradia. He provided some basic information before giving the detail. He said, human settlement began in St. Martins Island back in 1000 AD and the current population is near about 6,000. There is no information of cyclone havoc; no causalities have taken place so far after the recent Tsunami. This island is rising at a rate of 19 mm/ year. In absence of electricity supply, this island remains as a typical remote island with immense natural beauty.

St. Martins is known as Narikel Zinzira as there are plenty of coconut trees around the island. Most of the people here are fishers. Then come agriculture with main crops watermelon, onion, nuts etc. Recently trades and tourism is emerging. But the most alarming issue here is the over extraction/collection of sea cucumber, coral etc.

PDO-ICZMP has already held some discussion and paper published in the media to raise concern about the alarming situation in St. Martins. As the island has multidimensional attraction and only coral bearing island of Bangladesh, people visit there.

However, Carbon dating shows that it is nearly a 30,000 old island. Coral reef, marine turtles are the most precious resources of this island. Marine turtles come here for nesting and breeds regularly. But there is no data on this marine turtles who visits when. This day’s populations of marine turtles are coming down, but efforts are there to protect the biodiversity.

Back in 1999, this island was declared as ECA. Since then it has became a tourist zone. A lot of people visit this island during November to February month. Lot of academic studies have been done and continuing. Several institutions are active there i.e., Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard and NGOs. Government efforts are also emerging.

All the ongoing activities need to be integrated to achieve the economic growth, to ensure sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. These dimensions should be achieved through conserving the uniqueness and the natural beauty of the St. Martins Island. So, we must work all together.

Employment opportunities for the fishers and tourism need to be developed. But the question is, St. Martins without its natural beauty is simply an island. So if we destroy this beauty all goes out. We need to enforce ECA and conserve environment and coordinate all the activities. LGED has taken initiative to produce green energy in the St. Martins. There is huge scope of ecotourism opportunity. Children work as local guides. We can create professional guides also. Local houses can be modified and used as the tourist /guest houses like Maldives.

To promote tourism, conservation of nature is a must. Tourism effort can contribute to the local and regional economy. There are 9 ECA’s in Bangladesh, but the St. Martins ECA is the most important and it can be enforced. Efforts are there, but enforcement is needed. Opportunistic livelihood options could be fishing, new trades, dry fish processing and cottage industries development i.e., net and boat making.

However, we need to combine all the efforts and try to avoid the duplication. PDO offers facilitation. We can build on existing plan of 1997. It can be a demonstrable model for ICZM. Thank you all.

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Presentation of St. Martin’s Island by Dr. M. Rafiqul Islam, Team Leader, PDO-ICZMP

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Address by the Guest of Honour Mr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Director General, DoF

Chairperson Director General of WARPO, Honorable Chief Guest, the State Minister Gautam Chakraborty, Honorable special guest Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz, ndc, Secretary of MoWR. From his experience of my visit to the St. Martins Island, there are 5000 people living in the St. Martins Island. Most of them are fishers who are very poor. Tourism is growing in a much-unplanned way. Local people think their heritage and culture are being destroyed due to the emerging tourism business. Land, Biodiversity, plantation are in a threat of destruction. Regarding biomass and marine water following are the main thrusts to be taken in concern.

• What are the species composition

• What is quantity of the total biomass

• What is the oceanological changes are there occurring gradually.

These are the important issues to study and it is a continuous process. With one/two days effort it cannot be achieved. Changes in this island can be seen through concentrating these three major areas.

Water pollution is a major factor to destroy the natural habitat of St. Martins. As tourism business is growing, number of mechanized boats is increasing, which is creating immense water pollution and this has to be stopped for the sake of the biodiversity conservation. Creation of sanctuaries could be one of the best solutions to prevent water pollution in this island.

Not only that, this island is the best area for turtle breeding. But the dogs of the island are destroying hundreds and thousands of eggs. Recently American authority imposed one condition on shrimp export that under any circumstances turtles cannot be killed. If we kill turtle then they will not buy shrimp. I hold series of meetings with the Deputy Commissioners of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira on this matter. This should be controlled anyhow to protect the turtles. If we cannot ensure it, shrimp export will suffer a lot.

We are trying to import turtles excluded device to fasten net for not to capture turtles. Not only that mollusk is also suffering from the water pollution threat in the St. Martins. To stop water pollution universally accepted tool is sanctuary. If we can declare sanctuary area in the 5 metres depth area around the island, alternative livelihoods will be ensured along with preventing the water pollution.

If we can retain shallow water alternative livelihoods options will be strengthened. So we need to involve community people in sanctuary development, only sanctuary declaration cannot help to protect water pollution. I hope from the discussion session valuable suggestions will come up and we will jointly work for the better management of the St Martins Island. Thank you all.

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Address by the Special Guest Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz, ndc, Secretary, MoWR

Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque Chairperson of the session and Director General of WARPO, Honorable Chief Guest, Advocate Gautam Chakraborty the State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources, Guest of honour Mr. Nasir Udddin Ahmed, Director General, Department of Fisheries, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am not fortunate to visit St. Martin’s Island. But I have gathered some knowledge and information form experts like you, websites and media. My very personal view is that to-day’s topic of discussion is very much important and deserves considerable approaches to develop for sustainable management of the St. Martin’s Island. The discussion, I hope, should cover some major areas like;

• Status of habitation

• Economic activities

• Risks and problematic areas and

• Finally a plan that we need to take for the management.

Critical analysis of these can provide sustainable management of the island. Regarding the location of this island, Cox’s Bazar and Peninsula tip is very important. It is above the minimum sea level, which is 3.6 metre. This should be taken into consideration for any plan or to make suggestions.

Coral island consists of various limestone’s. Shell, limestone, coral and permeable makes home for the water aquifer. The island is more than 30,000 years old. It is a coral island, where coral deposition is emerging. So shall we jump for massive development effort right now?

There are 182 different species and we are actually disturbing their lifecycle. Director General, DoF has mentioned rightly that 90% people are fishers. So their source of livelihood should be considered also. Soil of this island is not so fertile, people can only grow watermelon and rice.

There is no record of major risk. But we cannot say, after experiencing the recent tsunami. That this island will not suffer from tidal surge in future Common IT network to the mainland is needed. Regulatory framework for over exploitation is required to protect the biodiversity. He further mentioned that, regarding the plan of Action, MoWR has already formulated CZPo 2005. This is a guideline for all the Ministries. The ministries will do the sustainable development. This discussion session will focus within ICZM umbrella how best can Ministries act to evolve action plan effectively.

We have ECA 1999; we have also the Management plan of 1997. These frameworks need to be reinforced rather formulating new plan. This discussion session can make the basis for further progress. We know human habitation there which is 1000 years old. So the people of the area are more important.

We will have to decide to utilize the people living there. We must take them into the fold of management. Thank you.

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Address by the Chief Guest Advocate Goutam Chakrabarty MP Hon’ble State Minister, MoWR

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to participate in this round table discussion session. St. Martins is situated in the extreme Southern part of Bangladesh, which is full of seaweeds, and corals. The island is rich with its natural resources varied characteristics. It is famous and important to the researchers and academicians for its diverse natural resources.

However, marine fishing has a long history. It started since the human settlement. Since then fishing based economy was established in this island. Every year around 1650 MT fishes are being captured from the sea worth of Tk. 4.0 crore It is enriched with biodiversity, agricultural practices also exists here.

Number of tourists in this island is increasing. Due to the population pressure; people are destroying forest resources to meet the fuel need. Infrastructure construction is destructing the habitat. It is best place of turtle breeding.

Since 1960’s coral collection has started commercially. Unplanned extraction of coral is declining its species and it is creating pressure to other species’ also. ICZM has created the opportunity to work together on this issue. About 12 ministries and 35 departments/ agencies are working on the ICZM platform. Therefore we will have to emphasize on the followings

• Livelihoods development

• Biodiversity conservation and

• Economic development

We will have to work together on the overall development of this island. Prime Minister will extend her support on to it. Not only that, other agencies will contribute to conserve biodiversity in the St. Martin’s Island.

We will have to conserve the natural beauty of this island for the sake of our future generation. I truly agree with the Team Leader of PDO-ICZMP that without people’s awareness it cannot be done properly. I also agree with the DG, DOF, that this island should be better managed not only for its beauty and resources but also for the research and educational purposes.

Though I have some practical experiences on this island but still so far I understood, we will have to be proactive to protect the ecological balance in that place. Partnership and alliances is a must to embark on to this process and with the cooperation and coordination of the agencies this can be done very smoothly.

Our Honorable Secretary has already explained the CZPo and considering all the dimensions this workshop remain very important as it can provide valuable suggestions. Hoping that all of us will work together in near future. We will have to take over the government decisions, which are based on the prospective suggestions. We must work together on it for the better management of this island.

With these I inaugurate the session and wish success of the Round table discussion. Thank you all.

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Address by the Chairperson Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque, Director General, WARPO

Chief Guest, the Honorable State Minister Advocate Gautam Chakraborty Special guest Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz ndc, Secretary of MoWR, I am honored to be part of the round table discussion on “Holistic Approach for Sustainable Management of St. Martins Island’. Coral Island or St. Martins is very rich in terms of the biodiversity which provides the ecological balance. St Martin’s ecosystem is the most special amongst the other ecosystems of Bangladesh. About 400 persons per day visit this island of beauty. But the over exploitation of the coral reef and marine turtles is declining the natural habitat. The Government of Bangladesh has declared St Martins as Ecologically Critical Area (ECA) in 1999.

We should emphasize on to the importance of managing the island’s fragile resources in a sustainable manner. We have to protect its biodiversity. Only declaration of ECA is not enough. As the Team Leader of PDO-ICZMP and the DG, DoF have mentioned earlier, sanctuary can be a better option to protect the biodiversity in the St Martin’s Island.

CZPo has been passed and we will have to put together all these considerations. As a result St. Martins could be the first step towards the operationalization of the CZPo. To stop the destruction of the biodiversity, we will have to work together.

However, from the technical session many more suggestions on the methodology, technology, ways and strategies and ecosystems will hopefully come up. I thank you all.

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3 TECHNICAL SESSION

Dr. Ainun Nishat, Country Representative, IUCN Bangladesh Country office, chaired the technical session. Dr. Ainun Nishat commenced the technical session by mentioning that the keynote paper has been presented already, which has reflected the thoughts of PDO-ICZMP on the sustainable management of the resources of St. Martins Island.

The following 4 papers were presented during the technical session.

1. Marine Biodiversity and its Conservation Measures - Prof. Dr. A K M Abdul Matin, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

2. Holistic Assessment of the Faunal Changes; Impact on Fisheries Livelihoods in St. Martin's Island - Dr. Giasuddin Khan, DoF, Dhaka.

3. Empowerment of Coastal fishing Communities of St. Martin Island for Responsible fishing and biodiversity conservation - Dr. Dilip Kumar, TL, ECFC Project, DoF.

4. Development of Tourism and Employment Generation - Mr. Ziaul Haque Howlader, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

In addition, Mr. Osman Ghani of the Forest Department gave a detailed description of involvement of the department in St. Martin’s island.

Suggestions were received soon after the completion of each presentation.

However, all participants contributed the open discussion session.

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Marine biodiversity (of the St. Martin’s Island) and its conservation measures

Dr. A K M Abdul Matin, Professor, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong

The synopsis of this presentation was that to defer the definition of St. Martins Island. He said, it is not a Coral Reef island rather a Coral Helimida Reef Island. His presentation was comprised with many photographs of the existing and extinct biodiversity of the island.

Recommendations: • Artificial propagation to stop extinction is a must to conserve the biodiversity in St. Martins

Island. • Special attention to be given on the intense effort to make lime from the oyster shells.

Presentation of Marine Biodiversity and its Conservation Measures

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Holistic Assessment of the Faunal Changes: Impact on Fisheries Livelihood in St. Martins Island

Md.Sirajul Islam, Assistant Chief, DoF, Dhaka This presentation entailed the fisheries resources in the St. Martins Island. Seaweed cultivation, pearl culture, aquaculture in the wetland body, cage culture in the northern part of this island has been described as the potential alternative livelihoods for the fishers. Tourism can be promoted by ensuring cottage/huts, tourist guides, ornamental fish trade, jobs in Marine Park, electricity supply, solar energy usage, sanctuary establishment, restriction of the mechanized boats etc.

Recommendations: • Holistic approach to attain sustainable management. • Stop the destructive growth of tourism. • Uses of local peoples house for the tourists rather then constructing hotels. • To examine the importance of the rare species sea horse. • Jurisdiction of the marine turtles need to be clarified. • Assessment of the carrying capacity of the island.

Presentation Impact on Fisheries Livelihood in St. Martin’s Island

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Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities of St. Martin’s Island Dr. AKM Nowsad Alam, Sr. National Expert, ECFC Project, Cox’s Bazar

To empower the fisher folk community in the St. Martins Island village organization was formed through appraisal, problems and opportunities analysis, prioritization and then making of the Action Plan. Community interaction has been increased through this process.

Recommendations: • To impose ban the use, production and collection of the current net. • To protect acquatic resources from water pollution.

Presentation of Empowerment of the Fisheries Community of St. Martins Island

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Tourism for Employment Generation in St. Martin’s Island Mr. Ziaul Haque Howlader, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

Sustainable livelihoods can be ensured through opting fishing and tourist guide side by side. To do so LGED is developing the master plan, which will be implemented by the MoE. Agency cooperation is needed to promote tourism for the employment generation.

Recommendations: • Involvement of the COAST Guard and the Bangladesh Navy. • Plan for the rainy seasons. • Land ownership development in the southern part of the island.

Anthropogenic threats needs to be considered regarding the floral diversity. Tourism must be developed in a sustainable manner, as there is close linkage between human and the nature.

Presentation of Tourism and Employment Generation

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4 OPEN DISCUSSION

Dr. Md. Liakath Ali, PDO-ICZMP

Mr. Ziaul Huq from BPC has mentioned in his presentation that involvement of BWDB is also important in tourism development in St. Martin’s Island. Why?

Dr. Ainun Nishat

BWDB’s involvement has been mentioned to undertake any types of protection measures from Teknaf to the St. Martin’s Island.

Dr. S.M.A Rashid, Coastal & Wetland Biodiversity Management Project, DoEnvironment

I have noticed that one thing is missing and/or has not been mentioned in this round table discussion and that is about the ongoing Coastal & Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP). We all know about the ECA declaration and CWBMP is a GEF funded project for ECA management. Although this project has been delayed due to some miss initiatives and decisions. Hopefully within the next five years this project will work out effectively.

As ICZM has taken an effective initiative to discuss together on Sustainable management of St. Martins Island, they should also contact with Department of Environment who are executing CWBM Project.

On information availability, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment has mentioned that we have huge amount of information. Kamal Sheikh emphasized on the zonation of St. Martins Island in one of his famous writing. Besides, the ongoing St. Martin’s project also establishing Marine Park to do the zoning. That means there are many initiatives going on and we can take examples from them rather inventing new things to this island.

For national interest we all must have to work together. CWBMP is linked with other projects like ECFC, St. Martins Project. Not only that, some components of SEMP are also linked with CWBMP and this project has good linkage with LGED’s energy related component. However, it has been told in this session that 12 Ministries and 35 agencies are linked with ICZMP. So, why cannot we bring all the works and examples together in this discussion session? Decision from the highest body is crucial to work on sustainable management of the island.

All though Prince of Saudi Arabia has shown keen interest in the tourism development of this island, but as the St. Martin’s is already a declared ECA, thoughtful actions are required before intervene anything new in this island.

On marine turtle conservation issue, I must tell you that as GEF emphasizes on the globally endangered species and St. Martins is the only island where three types of turtles do their nesting. We do not find any nesting record of Horn bill turtle since 1992.

Moreover as the DG of DoF have already mentioned about TDE (Turtle exclusion Device), I have not seen this example yet. In India this is made at a cost of Taka 500-700. If we can make it also, then our fishers will be able to use this.

On diversity issue, it must be mentioned that many of the species are declining. I am going to this Island since 80’s and now keora trees cannot be seen like before, as the investors are buying land and fencing boundary by cutting keora trees. In southern part of this island in Cheradia we will not find any keora trees.

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Dr. Ainun Nishat We would like to hear from you about the sustainable management of this island. We have not acknowledged your project, is not correct. Because Dr. Rafiq, team leader of ICZMP has mentioned in his presentation about ongoing projects including your one.

Can you please elaborate on the present status of the project. As NPC, you can directly recommend for introducing TED.

Dr. S.M.A Rashid

We have actually started from the last year. We have field office in Cox’ Bazar. We are going to open a Teknaf field office by next month and this office will look after the St. Martins Island also. More over, we are trying to establish communication and coordination mechanism by contacting with ECFC’s village group organizations

Dr. Ainun Nishat

For the sustainable management of the St. Martins Island, coordination amongst the 4 ongoing projects is very important. We expect your cooperation in that particular issue.

Dr. S.M.A Rashid

I can tell you that for the sake of the sustainable management of this island, coordination among the relevant Ministries, agencies and project will be established soon. Yesterday I had a meeting with the Secretary of MoEF and I have mentioned all the issues I discussed here and he assured me that if I can provide the ECA related steps to him, then he will peruse it to the other Ministries. Therefore, today’s session is very important to chalk out the expert opinion and recommendations.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

To add with your comment it should be mentioned here that, we will have to find out whether there are any other projects going on in addition to mentioned projects. I hope that the new Chairman of BPC will cooperate with the theme we are discussing here. For the sustainable management of St. Martins Island, we will certainly need the involvement of DoF, FD, LGED, and BPC. In this regard, ICZM can collect and compile the study/survey reports of the St. Martin’s project to make it as a baseline report. You can also collect the Tomas Tomascik report from IUCN library. Therefore I would request Dr. Rafiq and Dr. Rashid to sit together and discuss today’s suggestions and take the written decisions to the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment to ensure effective coordination.

Professor AKM Abdul Matin, Institute of Marine Sciences, Chittagong University

We will have to think about the monitoring issue as well.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

From IUCN’s part I will take this responsibility.

Dr. S.M.A Rashid

For the conservation of Marine turtles, we should concentrate on the identified breeding grounds in St. Martins Island. So far 20 breeding grounds have been identified and we will have to prioritize the effective breeding grounds and provide adequate and proper protection there.

Mr. Abu M Kamal Uddin, PDO-ICZMP

To me, selection of effective breeding place can come later on as it requires a bit detail works. However, I propose we can form a body from today’s discussion, who will work further on to this issue and I am quite sure that all the projects have resources.

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We have already contacted with the project directors of the mentioned projects and Dr. Rafiq has already mentioned that ICZM could be the platform.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

Only offer to act as a platform is not enough. Dr. Rafiq will have to knock on Mr. Mushfiq and Mr. Kamruzzaman. We need to communicate with them for effective actions. I also will go with him if necessary.

I fully agree with your proposal for platform. Committee/ group power will be needed. That is why we will have to go to the Secretary of the MoEF. We will have to cooperate with Dr. Rashid to get the government’s assurance.

Mr. Osman Ghani, Chief Conservator of Forest, Forest Department

I want you to think about the “Nature Trails” rather than making walk way around the beach.

Ms. Nahid Sultana, Scientific Officer, WARPO

We have talked a lot about the existing tourist and fisheries resources and potential in St. Martins Island, but not about agriculture. Can we suggest cultivating specific less water demanding crops like soybeans, peanuts, and wheat according to the soil types? It can be done as an alternative to the traditional rice cultivation system.

Mr. Hasan Shariar, Scientific Officer, WARPO

I have been to Kutubdia Island few days back and found the ground water crisis. Water is crucially needed to any kind of development intervention. Therefore, we will have thought about the existing aquifer of this island.

Dr. Abdullah Harun Chowdhury, Khulna University

What type of tourism we will promote for the St. Martins Island? During the on and off-seasons, carrying capacity of this island vary. It is hard to find an inch of place in the beach area during on season. This entails the risks of the carrying capacity of this island. Moreover we will have to investigate that whether the construction of multistoried building and safety tanks are polluting seawater ?

It has been suggested that seaweed culture and fresh water aquaculture could be the major alternative livelihoods in this island. But we must think about the risks underneath of aquaculture. Aquaculture will eliminate most of the species (out of 16 existing species) as it allows only 3-4 species cultivation.

As seaweeds can be found densely in the northwestern beach of the island. People will certainly concentrate on to that area. Therefore, it may repeat the land grabbing stories of Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat. So we will have to be more careful to pick the area for seaweed culture. We must ensure that EIA will take place before any types of intervention.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

Three strong points have been identified by him and these are • to develop and enforce socially and environmentally responsive tourism guide. • regulatory framework for the sustainable management of the natural resources. • proper zoning is needed for program or any kind of intervention and Environmental

assessment should be done beforehand.

Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman, CNRS

St Martins Island is comprised with small area and if we want establish Eco-park there, Laboratory or Hatchery establishment may harm the entire process. Because the use of heavy metals and bio

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undegradable materials in the laboratory will certainly pollute the seawater. We do have same types of ecological conditioned areas elsewhere in Bangladesh, we can produce and nurture the species there also. We will not be able to recycle the pollutants once that laboratory will be on.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

Persons with research interest on seaweeds, algae, and coral will use this laboratory. We do have hatchery in Cox’s Bazaar and still we are not habituated to eat mollusks, so we will have to think abut these issues as well. We will have to perform the environment assessment in terms of ensuring sustainability and harmful activities in this island should be controlled strongly. Social control needs to be strengthened to stop in migration in this island. People who are already there shall be prohibited far to move further in the south of Galachipa. If necessary we can ask the government to buy out the khas land. As far I know the island was entirely under khas land, local investors made the Dalil (agreement) later on. In a sense we can take it up with the high officials.

Md. Sirajul Islam, Department of Fisheries

We have much more options over there. Shark watching is rather profitable than to collect shark fins. But, people are collecting shark fin in an unplanned manner. If we can plan for the next 15-20 years we can go for shark watching. Propagation of marine ornamental fishes is not possible. Because within salinity level of an aquarium, ornamental marine fish species never survive.

Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman, CNRS

Most of the fisheries research institutes and the training centers are mal functioned and mismanaged. We have heard that some of the scientists had to sell the fishes of the research pond for their living. Because they had no money. My point is that it is not so easy to run research activities in such a remote area like St. Martins island. So, level of researchers is matter of question.

Dr. Ainun Nishat

We are quite unsure about the sustainability of the laboratory set up. Those who are building this should keep it in their mind. Not only that, they can also think about the possibility of shifting the physical facility to Teknaf-Shah Parir Dwip. Shah Parir Dwip could be a proper place for research and eco-tourism development.

Mr. Nawshad has mentioned that the people of St. Martins Island have the idea that, they will be evacuated some day from the island. But we are saying that it will not bring benefit to those people. So, consultation with the local people is a big factor. Population limit of the settlement is also necessary.

Mr. Mokhleur Rahman

ICZM is a platform during its lifetime. But what will happen when ICZM will be phased out?

Mr. Nuruzzaman, DoF

I have mentioned earlier to do the seaweed and pearl culture experimentally, as we know that 200 tons of red seaweed goes to the Myanmar illegally per year. So we will have to think about it also.

Dr. Abdullah Harun Chowdhury, Khulna University

For the sustainable management of this island, Social and Environmental Impact Assessments are must. We should also think about the risk of ballast water discharge. If many vessels move around the island, disastrous situation may occur. So restriction is needed. Another alarming issue is the extensive collection of shark fin. Dr. Nawshad has mentioned about introducing solar tunnel drier into the St. Martins Island, which will ultimately reduce the excessive use of insecticides in fish drying.

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Dr. Ainun Nishat

Approach, motivation and recommendations are needed to stop shark fin collection rather than to say stop or ban it.

Ms. Rehana Akhter, PDO-ICZMP

People can have alternative livelihood from the coconut by-product. Family planning activities must be given proper attention as most of the families in St. Martin’s are large with 8-10 members.

Ms. Akhteruzzaman, Deputy Director, DoF

EIA is essential before initiating any sorts of intervention in the St. Martin’s island. We will have to think about the solid waste management along with the sewerage water treatment.

Mr. Mohiuddin Ahmad, Co Team Leader, PDO-ICZMP

If I had the decisive and implementing power I could have done the following • We do not actually understand the social dynamics. We say that, many things are needed for

the livelihoods. This is vague. Because, people who are doing fish drying, shell trades are not the local people. These investors are from Teknaf and Cox’s Bazaar. People are very poor in St. Martins. If we can stop the commercial extraction of these resources, local people will not loose much. They are already looser stakeholders. Big stakes belong to Teknaf /Cox’s Bazaar. Therefore, commercial extraction of natural resources must be stopped and government should have strong political will to this issue. We need to plan how the local people can sustain.

• Pleasing nature should be conserved. People go to the island to enjoy its natural beauty. We can work along with Government’s sanitation program (2010) and the sanitation goal can be covered before 2010. We do not need to go for new programmes.

• We will have to impose higher toll to every tourist. Tourist who can effort the toll will visit the island.

5 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Dr. M Rafiqul Islam, Team Leader PDO-ICZMP made concluding remarks by saying that, “we must move forward with a common understanding/view on the issues we have already agreed upon. In doing so,

• This exercise has to be linked to Master Plan, assigned to LGED. • By next week, a formulation will be prepared for the Secretary, MoEF. • A follow-up meeting is scheduled on April 4, 2005 at the PDO..

6 FOLLOW-UP MEETING

As per decision of the round-table discussion, a follow-up meeting was held on April 4, 2005. Proceedings of the meeting is presented in Annex-C.

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ANNEX-A: PROGRAMME

Venue : BRAC INN Center, Mohakhali, Dhaka Date : 31 March 2005, Thursday 9:30 - 10:00 Registration OPENING SESSION 10:00 - 10:05 Recitation from the Holy Quran 10:05 - 10:10 Welcome address by Mr. Md. Hasan Parvez, PSO, WARPO 10:10 - 10:25 Key note paper: Towards holistic approach for sustainable management of St.

Martin’s Island by Dr. M. Rafiqul Islam, Team Leader, PDO-ICZMP 10:25 - 10:40 Address by the Guest of Honour Mr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Director General,

Department of Fisheries 10:40 - 10:45 Address by the Special Guest Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz ndc, Secretary, Ministry of

Water Resources 10:45 - 10:55 Inaugural Address by the Chief Guest Advocate Goutam Chakraborty MP Hon’ble

State Minister, Ministry of Water Resources 10:55 - 11:00 Address by Chairperson Mr. Hossain Shahid Mozaddad Faruque, Director General,

Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO)

11:00 - 11:05 Vote of Thanks

11:05 - 11:30 Refreshment TECHNICAL SESSION

Session Chair: Dr. Ainun Nishat, Country Representative, IUCN-Bangladesh Country Office 11:30 : Marine biodiversity (of the St. Martin’s Island) and its conservation measures -

Prof. Abdul Matin, Institution of Marine Science (IMS) Chittagong University, Chittagong

11:45 : Holistic Assessment of the faunal changes; impact on fisheries livelihoods in St. Martin’s Island - Dr. Md. Giasuddin Khan, District Fisheries Officer, Department of Fisheries (DoF)

12:00 : Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Communities of St. Martin’s Island - Dr. Dilip Kumar, TL, ECFC Project, Department of Fisheries (DoF).

12:15 : Tourism for Employment Generation in St. Martin’s Island - Mr. Ziaul Haque Hawlader, Executive Officer (Planning), Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC).

12:30 : Open discussion 14:25 : Closing remarks by the chairperson

14:30 Lunch Rapporteurs of the discussion: 1) Mr. Nasiruddin Md. Humaun, DOF 2) Dr. Shamim Ara, WARPO

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ANNEX-B: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Name Designation Address, Telephone & E-mail Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) Advocate Goutam Chakrabarty MP

Hon’ble State Minister

Mr. Md. Abdul Aziz ndc

Secretary

Ministry of Water Resources Bangladesh Secretariat Dhaka

Department of Fisheries (DoF) Mr. Md. Nasiruddin Ahmed

Director General

Mr. Nasiruddin Md. Humayun

District Fisheries Officer

Mr. Md. Sirajul Islam

Assistant Chief

Ms. Yasmeen Ara Ahmed

Statistical Officer

Dr. Arne Anderson

Team Leader, Fourth Fisheries Project

Mr. Md. Nuruzzaman

Shrimp Specialist, Fourth Fisheries Project

Department of Fisheries Matshya Bhaban Park Avenue, Ramna, Dhaka

IUCN-Bangladesh Country Office Dr. Ainun Nishat

Country Representative IUCN-Bangladesh Country Office House 11, Road 138, Gulshan-1, Dhaka

Chittagong University (CU) Dr. A. K. M. Abdul Matin

Professor Institute of Marine Science Chittagong University, Chittagong

Khulna University (KU) Dr. Abdullah Harun Chowdhury

Environmental Science Discipline

Khulna University, Khulna

Center for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS) Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman

Executive Director Center For Natural Resource Studies House# 14, Block #E, Road 13/C, Banani, Dhaka-1213

Forests Department (FD) Mr. Mohammad Osman Gani

Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests

Social Forest Wing Forests Department Ban Bhaban, Mohakhali, Dhaka

St. Martin’s Project, MoEF Mr. G. M. Jaglul Islam Marine Biologist St. Martin Project, MoEF

4/5, Iqbal Road, Mohammadpur Dhaka-1207

Department of Environment (DoE) B.U.H. Mst. Akhtaruzzahan

Director, Technical

Mr. S.M.A. Rashid

National Project Coordinator, CWBMP

Department of Environment Agargaon, Dhaka

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) Mr. Ziaul Haque Howlader Executive Officer (Planning) Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

233, Airport Road, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215

Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) Mr. H.S.M. Faruque

Director General

Md. Hasan Parvez

Principal Scientific Officer

Water Resources Planning Organization House 103, Road 1 Banani, Dhaka

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Name Designation Address, Telephone & E-mail Mr. Arzel Hossain Khan

Principal Scientific Officer

Mr. Md. Ekram Ullah

Senior Scientific Officer

Mr. Md. Hasan Shariar

Scientific Officer

Mr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman

Scientific Officer

Ms. Nahid Sultana

Scientific Officer

Program Development Office-Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (PDO-ICZMP) Dr. Rafiqul Islam

Team Leader

Mr. Mohiuddin Ahmad

Co-Team Leader & Social Development Expert

Mr. Md. Shahjahan Mian

Environmental & Resources Economist

Mr. Abu M. Kamal Uddin

Knowledge Management Expert

Dr. Md. Liakath Ali

Project Development Facilitator

Mr. Muinur Rashid

Coastal & Marine Engineer

Ms. Begum Rehana Akhter

Bio-diversity Conservation and Environmental Expert

House No. 4/A, Road No. 22, Gulshan-1 Dhaka

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ANNEX-C: MINUTES OF THE FOLLOW-UP MEETING ON 4 APRIL, 2005

Facilitated by the PDO-ICZMP, the follow-up meeting was attended representatives of three on-going projects and relevant agencies

- Coastal & Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (DoE) - Empowerment of Coastal Fisher Community Project (DoF) - St. Martin’s Biodiversity Conservation Project (DoE) - Department of Fisheries - Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation - IUCN

This was the first ever interaction of 3 ongoing projects on a platform.

Project Components of 3 on-going projects:

St. Martin’s Biodiversity Conservation Project) - Household Survey/Base line - Biodiversity conservation - Proposed Marine Park - Prevention of sandstone, natural stone and coral extraction - Seaweed, shell, coral, mollusk extraction prevention - Awareness building (weekly) activities on conversation, cooking, cleanness of beach etc. - Dissemination of Do’s or Dont’s for the tourist in the island - Encourage household tourisms (20 so far) - In Situ / ex-situe turtle conservation (Conapara, Galachipa 9000 released) - AIG training/livelihood skill dev. training - Laboratory, maritime museum, research centre from Dhaka to St. Martine’s office-cum Barrack,

Dormitory - Solar/Wind energy for the project office complex - Commissioning of a ship for research & eco-tourism Empowerment of Coastal Fisher Community (ECFC) Project (DoF)

1) Vill. Organization, (4 villages) (St. Martine’s Marine Fisheries Management) - 8 organised = Male +Female

2) Capacity building / linkage for AIG - training : 50 training sessions so far 3) Grant for organizations (as seed money) 4) Participatory Resource Management 5) 2 schools, Health care, Sanitation, legal aid 6) Village resource centers

Coastal & Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP) - (DoE)

Primary role; Implementation of ECAs

ECA – boundary definition/land tenure - BD Poush has been awarded the job of community mobilization (Starting April 2005)

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Village Conservation Groups (VCGs) - Resource management - Awareness - Alternative livelihood - Tourism - Habitat management Components of all three projects, working on 500-600 households, were described and analyzed. Room for working together became evident. After a thread-bread discussion, the following recommendations were made.

Recommendation:

• All agreed to contribute and participate in the preparation of the Master Plan, emphasizing on: ◊ Enforcement of the ECA to conserve biodiversity ◊ Establishment of fish sanctuary and marine park ◊ Promotion of nature tourism based on assessed carrying capacity of the island in relation to

waste disposal and drinking water availability. Tourism infrastructure in Teknaf preferred ◊ Empowerment of fisher community through group mobilization and alternative skill training ◊ Expressed reservation about a move to depopulate St. Martin’s island

• Representatives of active projects agreed to meet quarterly and share programs of on-going activities in the St. Martin’s Island.

• Appreciated the facilitating role of the PDO-ICZMP, an inter-Ministerial set-up, and suggested continuation of the role in future.

List of Participants Name Designation & Organization Telephone & E-mail

St. Martin’s Biodiversity Conservation Project, (MoEF) Mr. S.M. Kamruzzaman Project Director

St. Martin’s Biodiversity Conservation Project, MoEF 0171-542314 9135253-4

Mr. G.M. Jaglul Islam Marine Biologist 9135253-4 Department of Fisheries (DoF) Mr. Md. Sirajul Islam Assistant Chief

Department of Fisheries 9565023

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) Mr. Md. Khalid-Bin-Majid Deputy Manager (Planning)

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation 8117855 Ext.127

Mr. Basu Dev Bhattacharjee General Manager (Planning) Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation

8115268; 0172-845991

Coastal Wetland Biodiversity Management Project (CWBMP) Dr. S.M.A. Rashid National Project Coordinator

Coastal Wetland Bio-Mass Project 9125701

IUCN Bangladesh Mr. Munjurul Hannan Khan IUCN Bangladesh 9890423 Empowerment of Coastal Fishing Community (ECFC) Project Dr. A.K.M. Nowsad Alam Sr. National Expert

ECFC Project 0171-446315

PDO-Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan Project (PDO-ICZMP) Mr. Md. Shahjahan Mian Environment & Research Economist 8826614 Mr. Abu M. Kamal Uddin Knowledge Management Expert 8826614 Dr. M. Rafiqul Islam Team Leader 8826614